Q1 EPS Estimates for Caterpillar Boosted by Zacks Research

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2027 earnings per share estimates for Caterpillar in a report issued on Thursday, April 3rd. Zacks Research analyst M. Das now forecasts that the industrial products company will earn $5.11 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $5.05. The consensus estimate for Caterpillar’s current full-year earnings is $19.86 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Caterpillar’s FY2027 earnings at $22.91 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently commented on CAT. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Caterpillar from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Caterpillar from $365.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Caterpillar from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Caterpillar from $455.00 to $438.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $383.80.

Caterpillar Trading Down 5.9 %

CAT opened at $287.57 on Friday. Caterpillar has a twelve month low of $281.50 and a twelve month high of $418.50. The firm has a market cap of $137.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $346.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.19.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $5.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.17. Caterpillar had a return on equity of 58.18% and a net margin of 16.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew R. J. Bonfield sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.09, for a total value of $3,800,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,173,226.38. This represents a 18.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jason Kaiser sold 2,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.70, for a total transaction of $860,147.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,742.50. This represents a 27.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Caterpillar by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,809,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,980,629,000 after purchasing an additional 284,366 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Caterpillar by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,449,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,790,841,000 after buying an additional 236,315 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,081,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,294,505,000 after buying an additional 129,143 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Caterpillar by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,847,330 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,483,937,000 after acquiring an additional 724,477 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,184,364,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.